6:41 p.m. on July 1, 2002 (EDT)
My partner accidentally pee on one end of a climbing rope. It's brand new, so I don't want to retire it. But I heard that urine is very bad to a rope. What should I do? Can I wash it off? Should I take the rope to a shop to cut the end off and then reseal it? (Can they do that?)
Any advice is appreciated.
10:25 p.m. on July 1, 2002 (EDT)
Check out this site for lots of info on rope retirement (and check out all the other helpful info. that Dawn has accumulated as well):
http://www.tradgirl.com/climbing_faq/safety.htm#retire
The most directly pertinent comment on peeing on your rope is as follows:
******
In a report on dynamic climbing ropes Pitt Schubert, President of the UIAA safety commission found the following....
3. Ropes soaked overnight in urine (!) had their strength reduced by 30%. However, this was only relevant when the rope was loaded over a sharp edge.
******
Presumably, you washed off the rope as soon as possible after it was peed on. (Can't imagine anyone letting it soak overnight unless no water is available, but who knows. ;-))
If you're still uncomfortable, by all means, cut off the soaked end. You don't need a shop for this, you can do it yourself easily. I'm not sure if there's a magic system for trimming ropes, but I've done this and it worked fine: Cut off the undesired section. Take your newly-created end and push the sheath back from the core strands and heat seal them. Heat sealing the core strands will shorten them up a bit, so that the segment of sheath that you pushed back can now be pulled up and over the sealed core. Do this, and heat seal the sheath.
If there's a better way of finishing the end of a newly trimmed rope (absent a real hotknife), I'd love to know it. Anybody?
7:12 p.m. on July 2, 2002 (EDT)
Tokyo Bill,
Thanks a lot.
Quote:
Check out this site for lots of info on rope retirement (and check out all the other helpful info. that Dawn has accumulated as well):
http://www.tradgirl.com/climbing_faq/safety.htm#retire
The most directly pertinent comment on peeing on your rope is as follows:
******
In a report on dynamic climbing ropes Pitt Schubert, President of the UIAA safety commission found the following....
3. Ropes soaked overnight in urine (!) had their strength reduced by 30%. However, this was only relevant when the rope was loaded over a sharp edge.
******
Presumably, you washed off the rope as soon as possible after it was peed on. (Can't imagine anyone letting it soak overnight unless no water is available, but who knows. ;-))
If you're still uncomfortable, by all means, cut off the soaked end. You don't need a shop for this, you can do it yourself easily. I'm not sure if there's a magic system for trimming ropes, but I've done this and it worked fine: Cut off the undesired section. Take your newly-created end and push the sheath back from the core strands and heat seal them. Heat sealing the core strands will shorten them up a bit, so that the segment of sheath that you pushed back can now be pulled up and over the sealed core. Do this, and heat seal the sheath.
If there's a better way of finishing the end of a newly trimmed rope (absent a real hotknife), I'd love to know it. Anybody?
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